Cradles & Stars
We are called to shine.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you,
For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.
Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Isaiah 60:1-3
As we look around the world today, we truly find that darkness covers the earth and deep darkness the peoples. The world is a mess and getting messier. And, it is naïve to think that things are improving. Yet, God is at work to capture the hearts of a people. Never before have we had such a wonderful and exciting time to arise and shine as we do today. Clearly, there is something special unfolding.
But, many of us are caught up in the darkness and fail to even consider that it is us who is to shine. We all tend to expect someone else to do it – someone more “special.” Many have believed the lies that your value is not enough to make a difference, that you are too young or too old, that your failures from the past have made you disqualified, that you are not smart enough or pretty enough or good enough. But, you are exactly the people that the LORD can and will use for His purposes. He is not limited by your limitations. He is only limited if you will say “no”.
Circumstance is not a reason either. There are plenty of out of work, out of money, out of marriage, out of control folks running around. The question isn’t whether your circumstances define you, but how does God define you? Get above your circumstance and do something remarkable. Because it is in your heart to do great and marvelous things.
It is time to put the personal shortcomings and life’s situation aside and join the LORD in defining how brightly your star shall shine. For, the darkness truly needs the light.
Luke 2 – The Christmas Story
1Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12″This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
Glory to God. Amen. Glory to God.
Everyone say, “Glory to God.”
There was a little baby in His cradle in a manager in the middle of nowhere majestic. And, soon the entire world would come to see Him. And, God would be glorified. Even today, His light continues to shine across the land. And great glory can be seen over a dark land.
God wants to birth something in you that will bring Him ultimate glory. You are made for greatness. You are made to make a difference – no matter what your purpose is. You see, He wants to place you as a star high up in the sky where many will see and look to Him as the author. But, how can that be you might ask.
Because God wants everyone to know Him. And, He is a big God who does big things, and He wants His big light to shine. He will even bring kings to you. They will see the light and come. He already did it once.
Look at Matthew 2.
1Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2″Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
It’s important to catch this. The pagan, wicked kings of the world, even dealing in the occult – the heads of dark countries came a long distance to worship the true King. They saw His star and came running. And, the LORD wants to do that in you. He wants to shine his light so brightly upon you that it points to Jesus so that all the folks in the land will come running to worship Him, and God will be glorified.
Now look at Acts 4:13-16:
13Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
14And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
15But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,
16saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
There comes a time when God moves so mightily through you that even your adversaries are at a loss for words. When God’s glory shines, people take note that Jesus is at work. Peter and John were fishermen. I am certain that they were not the best at making public debate, especially when it came to the things of God. The Pharisee’s knew everything. They were highly overmatched. But, God. Ha, isn’t that always the story? But, God. That sick man was made well.
Stickman for Glory
Not being so gifted in artistic expression like drawing, I tend to like stickmen to illustrate a point. I am visual and like to draw. Plus, we all can draw stickman.
Take out a piece of paper. In the bottom left-hand corner, draw a stickman about three inches high pointing up to the right-hand corner of the page. This is you.
In the upper right-hand corner, draw a star. The star is indicative of what God wants to do in and through you. This is your purpose. For some, it is a job or even a company. For others, it is a message delivered to a bunch of high school kids. Still others might be stay-at-home moms. There are all kinds of stars that God wants to put in the sky.
The top of your man’s hand represents his natural gifting. Write next to his finger, “5, 2, 1”. These represent the talents that Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:15. God has given each of us a level of natural gifting. Some have more than others. Some can naturally reach higher than another person. And, the point is not whether you can do more than others but what you do with what you have. God has made you individually and wants to do mighty things through you no matter what your level of gifting might be. Don’t ever let your apparent lack of talent be a reason to keep from moving forward. Also, don’t let your abundant talent cause you to do things that few can do and still fall short of what God intended all along. Just because you accomplish something major, it is no great glory to God if He doesn’t get the credit.
Draw a line from the man’s hand to the star. Along this line, write “faith”. You see, the gap between the star and what you can do in the natural could be quite wide indeed. There is little glory for God when you accomplish something that you can do in your sleep. That doesn’t shine very far. But, to do great things requires faith. It could require a great level of trust to pull off that purpose. God might choose to place your star way up high for lots of folks to see.
Hebrews 11 says it all:
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2For by it the men of old gained approval.
3By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
You see, God has something to do that will cast light for a long, long way. And, most likely, it will require things to happen that only God can do. Your part is to trust that what He told you will come to pass. If He said that you will run a multinational company, don’t stop short inside the borders just because “they” say it cannot be done. Believe what He tells you. For, this is greatly pleasing to Him.
Hebrews 11:6 goes on:
6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Seek the LORD on what your star is. Ask Him how high it goes. He wrote that “thing” on your heart. Yes, it is really there. And, yes it is ok to say it. Yes and amen, are His words to you. It is ok.
This journey of seeking out the LORD and finding what He has for you to do in this life creates a vehicle for your relationship to operate. When you need to find out your star, you have to go to Him. If you cannot hear Him well, there is a good starting point. For, it is very difficult to have a relationship with someone when you cant hear what they say to you. As you increase in your relationship, trust builds. As trust builds, you have greater faith to do those amazing things that He calls you into. As amazing things happen, people see the light and are drawn to it. Then, you have the opportunity to give all the glory to God. Bless the LORD.
He Knows
It is ok that you cannot reach your star. Be released of all of the anxiety and tension. It is God who will perform the miraculous. You have to believe. That takes a walk. Even the disciples had three years of personal mentoring by the LORD Himself.
God set a clear precedent. Man had tried closing the gap for thousands of years. There were sacrificial systems. There were rituals. There were all kinds of doctrine. At the end of the day, no one could measure up and reconnect with the LORD.
So, He closes the gap. He sends down His son right to where we are – earth. He does what no man could do. He brings Salvation to us. Now, all we have to do is believe. Faith not only pleases God, but it brings us eternal life.
Today, choose to believe. Choose life.
Let the LORD put your star way up high, and He will shine upon you in amazing ways. You will draw kings to yourself and give all the glory to God.